WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team saw its second-half comeback bid fall short in a 71-65 loss on Wednesday night in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers trailed by 11 at the break, and as many as 15 in the third, but could not complete the rally after cutting the gap to two possessions with two minutes to play.
Purdue honored fifth year senior Madison Layden-Zay for her record-breaking career in a postgame ceremony. The Purdue career 3-pointer leader was named the newest Legend of Mackey.
Three Boilermakers (12-16, 4-13) finished in double figures, led by Nya Smith’s 20 points for her fourth straight game in double figures. The sophomore matched her season high while hitting three 3-pointers and adding four rebounds and four assists.
Lana McCarthy provided 18 of Purdue’s 20 points off the bench. The sophomore was 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 at the line. She tacked on seven rebounds and matched her career high with three assists. Tara Daye narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Purdue finished the game shooting 44.4% from the field and went 5-of-18 from distance. The Boilermakers hammered the glass, finishing plus-13 (40-27) but managed 14 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds to 14 points on seven second chance opportunities for Oregon (20-10, 8-9).
The Boilermakers had to rally out of an early 9-0 hole with seven straight points on a Kiki Smith triple and jumpers from McKenna Layden and McCarthy. Purdue went 6-of-12 from the field in the first quarter as the two sides matched 17-17.
Oregon held Purdue to 3-of-10 shooting from the field in the second, outpacing the Boilermakers 22-11 in the frame, including a 9-0 run to end the half and carry a 39-28 lead into the break. Nya Smith tallied five of Purdue’s 13 points in the third, as the Boilermakers pulled one back to trail 51-41 going into the fourth.
Purdue stayed within striking distance early in the fourth, despite Oregon opening a 13-point advantage just past the halfway mark. Daye completed an and-one before Nya Smith scored in transition to make it a 65-58 game with 2:45 to play. Purdue pulled within five points with 25 seconds to play but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
The Boilermakers finished the night hitting five of their final six shots.
Oregon was led by Katie Fiso’s 19 points, as the Ducks shot 44.6% from the floor and 6-of-17 from distance.
NOTES
• Purdue trails the all-time series 0-2.
• Lana McCarthy posted her sixth career game with 10 points, five rebounds and at least one assist, one steal and one block.
• Daye finished in double figures for the 19th time this season.
• McCarthy reached double figures for the eighth time this campaign and the first since knocking off No. 23 Washington in January.
• With five 3-pointers the Boilermakers moved to 204 on the season, becoming the fifth team in school history to reach 200 in a campaign. Four of the five have come under head coach Katie Gearlds.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers head into the final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 3 p.m. ET tip road trip against Northwestern. Purdue needs a win to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis next week.